Sam and Astrid were wandering passed a pet shop in town when Astrid pulled him to a stop, grabbing his arm just bellow the elbow. She was staring in at the mice running around in the window case, all pure white, small and barely older than babies with brightly coloured eyes. For a moment Sam wondered if Astrid wanted a pet. It was an odd time to decide that and they were strapped for money now Sam had lost his job, but maybe a pet would be nice to have around the apartment.
"Let's ask them if they've found any new animals in the last two days or so." Astrid said suddenly.
"You think mutant animals would be waiting in a pet shop?" Sam asked sceptically.
"It's worth a try." Astrid snapped, blushing because she knew it sounded stupid. "We've been wandering for hours, and we don't have long before we have to meet the others. We haven't even caught one thing yet."
"Okay. Do you want to check out the shop?" Sam asked slowly.
"Yes, please." Astrid smiled sarcastically before she turned and walked into the shop, visibly annoyed.
She wasn't annoyed with Sam. Well, she wasn't completely annoyed at Sam. She didn't like the way he had spoken to her like she was grasping at straws. She was. But Astrid didn't like it being pointed out to her like that. But that wasn't what had her so angry. What had Astrid so frustrated was actually the fact that they had not caught anything. Some crazy part of her had actually thought that it would be that easy, or at least slightly, maybe one or two at the least. The fact that they had wandered and found nothing was making her nerves sensitive and she was taking it out on Sam.
The shop wasn't very big or even very full. There were a few mice, cats and dogs and rabbits but there were also birds and fish. Each separated into a certain part of the store. The strange part was that it was unnaturally quiet inside of the shop, only the mice and fish seemed to be moving around and they were the ones right by the window away from the back of the shop. As they wandered passed Sam watched Astrid look in each of the animals in their cages. She was saying she wanted to find mutants but Sam still had the feeling she was searching for her wishful pet. And Sam was sure he was right when she stopped to stroke a kitten that pressed against its cage.
The animals were all still and silent, sitting and staring at the far end of the store but right up until Astrid and Sam walked by them. As soon as they walked up to them they began to act normal, meowing and purring or barking and wagging their tail. And then when they walked away again they returned to sitting in silence and staring at the back of the store. It was weird but neither of them knew very much about animals so they could hardly complain.
"Let's check the birds. Then maybe someone in the back can help us. If nothing I guess we head back home." Astrid shrugged with a miserable sigh.
"Okay." Sam said, following her through the shop.
The shop owner must have stepped out back and the store was empty apart from the animals themselves. Sam didn't like how silent the shop was. Even when it was empty of people there were normally animals shouting loudly or running around and slamming on the ground. Or at least that was what he thought. The shop was just so quiet... So silent... Too silent. They may not know much about shops and animals but they knew this much.
"This doesn't sound like a pet shop." Astrid whispered finally.
Sam nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, I see what you mean."
"Why?"
"Maybe it's just that time of day." Sam shrugged.
"No it's something more." Astrid whispered.
"I don't think there's anything more." Sam said over a parrot that was shouting over the top of them while they spoke. "Maybe it's just... I dunno, maybe it's just because of us being here."
"Us? Why would it be us?" Astrid scowled. "We're normal. They should be going crazy to see us here. That's what they know to do. It's not even that late so they can't be tired."
"It's a little late." Sam shrugged. Then frowned at the counter.
He ignored Astrid as she walked around towards the bird's area and instead walked towards the counter. There was nothing behind there but the door was open a jar. Slowly he edged over the counter and pushed the door open. No sooner had it opened he felt his body freezing and feeling his chest tighten. He quickly shut the door and swallowed hard.
"Astrid?" Sam said slowly. "I think I know why they're all so quiet today."
Astrid didn't hear him. She was too busy staring at the parrots all in one cage together in the very corner of the store beside the counter.
"Astrid." Sam said more urgently. He was shaking and he felt cold down to his bones. "Astrid!"
"What?" Astrid blinked as if only just hearing him.
"The owner... The owner of the shop, or maybe the manager of the shop or the worker or whoever he is... He's been shot. He's dead." Sam croaked.
"What?" Astrid gasped.
"There's a bullet wound and blood all on his chest and... I think we need to call the police." Sam croaked, his throat aching like he had been screaming for hours.
"Are you sure?" Astrid moaned, covering her mouth and not wanting to believe it.
Sam stepped away from the door and pulled out his phone. They were both shaking now. This was the first kind of normal human adult against adult caused death that either of them had seen ever.
"Sam... Wait..." Astrid whispered as he pressed down the numbers.
Sam paused where he was about to call the police and lowered the phone. "What is it?"
"I hate you."
"What?" Sam blinked.
"I really hate you. And I hope you die. I want you to just stick your head down a dog's mouth and let him-" Astrid cut herself off and moaned loudly in frustration. "That bird!"
"Wait what? What... What the hell just happened?" Sam blinked.
"Sam. Do me a favour. Real quick, just tell me that you hate me." Astrid demanded, glaring at the parrot in the cages.
"I hate you?" Sam blinked, confused.
"No, say it like you mean it. Say it like you hate me. Just quickly." Astrid snapped.
"I... I hate you." Sam said, frowning.
"Lie."
Sam blinked; he turned and looked up at the parrot settled in with the others in its cage. Only it wasn't really with the others. The other birds were all at one end of the cage and this lone parrot was settled at the other end, staring at them both with unnaturally focussed, almost human eyes. He realised it had been the only thing that was constantly making a noise since they stepped inside. It was saying the same two words over and over again out loud but neither had noticed until now.
"That is a dog." Sam said, pointing at the parrot in front of him.
"Lie."
"That is a bird." Sam said slowly.
"Truth."
"I am a dog."
"Lie."
"No freaking way!" Sam laughed, momentarily forgetting the blood bath just in the back room.
"I think it's Toto." Astrid mumbled. "Only. It isn't like the others. I mean it isn't attacking us when we get close. It's just... Unless... Oh my... Oh damn it!" She shouted looking both frightened and angry.
"What is it?" Sam stressed.
"Sam... This is just a just a theory so don't rely on it too much but what if Toto is the reason the owner got shot?" Astrid whimpered.
"How? All he does is tells truth and lies?" Sam frowned.
"What if the owner tried to lie to someone dangerous? Or even scam them with some kind of sick or dangerous animal they either wanted to keep or give away? The truth can sometimes really hurt people. We don't know how long the parrot has been here? I mean, the owner could have just had to lie about the condition of an animal to someone to spare their feelings with the painful truth but it could really upset them." Astrid moaned.
"So you think the bird told someone about the owner lying to them, either lying to get more money or trying to help them... And they took a gun to his chest." Sam mumbled. He could see that... Sadly he could really see that all too clearly.
"Do you think... Do you think Toto Bird will let us take him back home with us?" Astrid mumbled. She had another theory on why Sinder Butterfly was so territorial but she didn't want to say in case she was wrong and they made a mistake trying to catch Toto Bird.
"I don't know..." Sam shrugged. "Let's try."
Astrid walked over to the cage and struggled for a moment with the door before Sam found the keys on the counter behind them. When they opened the cage door and reached inside the parrot didn't move until Astrid touched him gently on the feet. Then it moved fast, slamming its beak down on her hand hard enough for her to shriek and fell back onto the ground. She clutched her hand which was bleeding and hanging limp from her wrist.
"Are you okay?!" Sam shouted, worried there would be some poison in his beak that would leave Astrid in a coma just like Sinder but she didn't pass out in front of his eyes.
Astrid sat up and rubbed her hand where Toto Parrot had hit her. She looked up and her eyes widened in confusion and obvious pain. Toto Parrot was shaking under his feathers and looked scared of them. Remembering that they died from fear Sam stepped up to the cage without actually sticking his head or hand in at pecking range. Instead he got as close as possible to the metal bars. The bird watched him and shuffled away on its own false tree branch.
"Astrid, are you okay?" Sam called back when she didn't answer him.
"I-I think so, he really hurt my hand." Astrid complained.
Sam wasn't sure if the Toto Parrot was poisonous but hopefully not since Astrid didn't seem to be having any strange reaction to him.
"Come here a second, I want to try something."
Astrid stood and went by his side, still clutching her hand. They stood there as the Toto Parrot began to get worked up, shuffling around in the cage, trying to move away from them but not wanting to leave the area it claimed his.
Just as the bird began to seem like it might die, its feathers darkening and its body shaking faster than anything they had seen before, Astrid grabbed Sam's arm and dragged him back. She pulled him a safe distance away until the bird had stopped shaking and stood perfectly still, watching them closely as its feathers returned to their normal bright shade.
"What are you doing?" Sam blinked. "It was working, Toto always hated strangers and we're scaring him just by being here. That must have been his biggest fear. We didn't even need him here to tell us."
"That's it, we're scaring him." Astrid hissed. "Remember our theory? Toto's still alive. If we kill this animal then won't Toto end up like Sinder?"
Sam hesitated, suddenly feeling stupid for not thinking of that. But at the same time he still had his doubt. How could he say he just thought Sinder had lost her mind without sounding horrible? But in truth, he wondered if he even believed that. "Yeah but... We don't even know if that's true." He mumbled. Sam didn't want to leave this bird to hurt anyone else but he didn't want to hurt Toto either just in case.
"Do you want to risk it?" Astrid asked, frowning at him.
Sam sighed after a moment of arguing in his head. "Okay then, what did you have in mind?"
Astrid took her time before answering and glanced over at the door. Then she turned back to the cage. "Let's free these other birds. Then we can cover the cage so it doesn't see us and get scared and hide it out in the apartment. It can't starve or die of thirst so if we hold it until... I don't know... We get a hold of Toto or something?"
Sam nodded and moved around. Luckily there were two openings to the cage and one of them was where the rest of the birds crouched away from Toto Parrot. They probably had been waiting for someone to free them away from this bird that all the animals could clearly sense was strange. They shot out the minute they were allowed to do so and Astrid hurried around the counter, avoiding the door where the dead man waited behind, and grabbed a thick blanket that had been used for someone putting their feet up. She hurried back just as Toto Parrot seemed to be getting worked up again and threw the blanket over the cage so he could no longer see them. It was like when they put the blanket over the cage to get the birds to go to sleep, darkness leading them to believe it was night. Maybe Toto Parrot would think it was night and drift off to a soundless sleep while they carried him back home.
Of course this wasn't a normal bird and so neither of them was even sure if this was going to work. For all they knew the bird was going to die anyway because he wouldn't fall asleep and would realise that they were carrying him. But they had no other choice. They just couldn't leave him there.
"You ready? The cage is pretty big and probably heavy." Astrid said, walking around the side.
"Wait." Sam said suddenly. "I have a theory for Lizzie Lizard. Can you go down the street and buy a Halloween mask?"
"It's not exactly Halloween..." Astrid said slowly, frowning.
"See if you can't find any mask then. Anything that might look scary to a little girl, even if you have to draw on it." Sam said.
"What about you? What are you going to do with Toto?" Astrid blinked.
"I'm strong, remember." Sam grinned. "I can carry this cage by myself back to the apartment. It's not that far."
Astrid hesitated, not sure even he could lift a heavy cage like this, but then headed from the shop as she was asked. She paused once more before shaking her head. They could call the police when they got back to the apartment.
"Meet you at the apartment?" Astrid asked.
"It's a date." Sam joked.
As Astrid left, Sam glanced under the blanket at the bottom of the cage. There didn't seem to be any black puddle growing. The bird seemed to be in one piece still. He glanced around at the cage itself. It was quite big and bulky but at least it wasn't attached to the wall so he could lift it with some effort. Sam reached around the side, not wanting Toto Parrot to see his hands underneath, and heaved the cage up into the air.
It was heavy, that was for sure, but Sam's body was just as strong as before the FAYZ, if not stronger from his days working at the beach. He struggled as he walked towards the door then hesitated, glancing back. Even in times like this he found himself wondering if it would be okay if he could take one of the kittens and give them to Astrid for a gift... No, he could come back after this whole mess has been sorted. Then, and only then, would Sam pick up the little ginger one.
G*O*N*E
"I didn't break its neck this time." Kevin beamed as he reached down and grabbed the rat by its tail.
Edilio smiled back and walked over. Kevin was really weird, in a good way of course. He hadn't changed much from the FAYZ as far as Edilio could remember. Kevin used to guard the streets; he walked around with a gun in hand and helped split fights and stop kids under the age of five from running around with weapons too dangerous for them. He had been at the lake when Gaia had attacked and for the last few days of the FAYZ he has rambled and refused to let go of his gun. But as time passed, just days before the wall came down he was back and helping out once more.
"Good job, but I don't think it's supernatural. Let it go." Edilio sighed. They hadn't had very much luck.
Kevin growled and threw the rat down, watching it scurry off behind the bins where it came from. He crossed his arms angrily over his chest and grumbled under his breath. Back in Perdido Beach he had been bored but at least he wasn't on a goose hunt. Part of him worried about his family back home. Were they being attacked by mutated animals? Was his older brother being killed? Were his parents being chased? What about his friends and distant family?
"What if Perdido Beach is in danger?" Kevin asked suddenly.
"We'll get to it." Edilio said. Was that a lie? He hoped they could but how far would they be able to travel to defend people? How far could they go to find these mutant animals and how much time would they have to do so?
"How much longer are we going to check for?" Kevin quizzed.
"We have an hour or so left." Edilio mumbled. He checked and then was shocked to see they had less than half an hour to get back. "Maybe less."
"Should we head back?" Kevin paused. They had gotten the centre of the town to search which was busier and more rat infested than anything else.
"Yeah, come on."
The two of them began to walk back down the street in the direction of the apartments. It was short and there was no real time to have a conversation. Most of the time was spent looking around in search of mutated animals.
They were almost home when they spotted Sam, struggling down the street with something large in his arms covered by a thick blue blanket. He stumbled as he crossed the road and nearly ran into someone texting. He managed to sidestep him at the last minute but Sam received a lot of dirty looks before he even finished crossing the road. Edilio and Kevin hesitated before they ran over to his side.
"Hey! Sam!" Edilio called. "What are you doing?"
"Edilio? That you?" Sam turned clumsily and almost dropped the cage on his feet but somehow managed to get a grip on it.
"Yeah, man. What is this?" Edilio blinked, helping Sam support the cage.
"Thanks." Sam said. "And... Uh... It's Toto."
"... Toto?" Edilio blinked. "You mean his animal? What is he?"
Kevin tried to look underneath the blanket but Sam pulled it away from him sharply. "Don't! Toto's... Well he's afraid of people and we don't want him to die unless it does something to the real Toto."
"Oh. That makes sense." Kevin nodded.
"Let's get him back to the apartment." Sam grumbled.
The three of them walked down the road, Sam and Edilio carried Toto Bird while Kevin trailed behind the two of them.
They were almost home when they heard a scream. It came from right beside of them and they all jumped in shock. Sam and Edilio struggled to keep hold of the cage.
"What was that?" Sam blinked.
Kevin turned and walked towards the right, not waiting for Sam and Edilio to rush and set Toto Bird on the ground so they could follow him. They didn't have to walk far before they found a small corner shop where three people were running from. There were only three people including the staff member but they all looked horrified and ran down the streets, not looking back.
They walked around and stepped into the shop. It looked a mess. The shelves were on the floor, magazine and newspaper was shredded with sweets and crisps crushed into crumbs and drinks flooding the tiled floor. Cigarette packets were scattered and there was a mixture of paper and hard money that reached every corner of the shop. It looked like someone had set a bomb off inside the building. And then, of course, there were the two animal-like mutated creatures standing in the middle of the room fighting.
There were two different animals, or one animal and something else that resembled an animal but not something any of them could name to exact specie. The first animal looked like a hare, but an unnatural hare. It was quite small, soft brown fur covered its bodies with large ears that were fallen down behind its body as it crouched down and glared at the creature in front of it. Only it wasn't a normal hare because it had blade like claws sticking out of its paws that were growing ever so slightly while they watched and sharp blade like teeth. There even seemed to be something sharp growing from under his fur but it was moving far too slowly to be a threat... At least not at the moment.
The creature crouched down at the thing standing in front of it. They had no idea what this creature was though it did look like some kind of male deer. At least none of them had seen anything like it before. It resembled a male deer closely enough, thick and big with large male horns on its head stretching almost towards the ceiling. It looked even bigger compared to the small animal in front but the weirdest part was that it didn't have fur or skin. The whole creature, from every patch of skin to its antlers and feet, was covered in a type of gravel stone.
"That's... That's..." Edilio whispered.
"It's Orc." Sam nodded. He watched the hare vanish and appear at Orc, slashing its claw like paws at him. It didn't scratch him, its rock too hard to penetrate, but it did make the Orc animal back away from the hare's speed that seemed impossibly fast. "And Brianna..."
"Are they fighting?" Kevin blinked.
"I think so, or trying to..." Sam mumbled.
They watched from the doorway as Brianna Hare ran at Orc Buck and tried slashing at him, attacking him with her blades but doing no affect against his tough skin. But at the same time whenever Orc would try and crush, smack or hit her, she would move out of the way in swift motions. Neither of them could beat the other.
"Quick!" Sam hissed. "Think, we need to think. What are Brianna and Orc scared of? They both died in the FAYZ so we have to kill them before they hurt anyone else."
"How are we supposed to fight those things?" Kevin hissed. "They'll attack us first!"
"No, they're too busy with each other." Sam whispered. "Now think. Edilio, what were Brianna and Orc most scared of?"
Edilio bit his lower lip, never taking his eyes of the two as they danced around one another, making a mixture of animal and human growls. He didn't know Orc very well, maybe he was scared of hurting someone since he grew so upset over Bette, but that seemed like more guilt than fear. He honestly couldn't think of anything Orc was scared of... Apart from maybe being beaten up. He fought Drake and didn't want to lose that human skin; he feared becoming a monster if he lost that last part of skin... Maybe there was a weak part on this Buck creature that was weak and if they attacked it then it would die.
But they couldn't be sure and they couldn't get close enough to search the thing to see if it had any weak patches.
"I'm not sure about Orc..." Edilio admitted and tried to think for Brianna.
There were so many things Brianna could be afraid of that she hid from them. Maybe it was being immobilized so she couldn't run so she was technically defenceless. Or maybe it was having her hands trapped like what Caine did to the Freaks back when the FAYZ first started. Or maybe it had something to do with the way she died.
"I don't know!" Edilio snapped, angry at himself.
"Maybe we should..." Kevin began but cut himself shot. No, they couldn't capture these guys. Brianna wouldn't be caught and Orc was ridiculously big to hide in their apartment.
No one knew what to do. They had no way of finding out their greatest fear and even if they did they couldn't be sure they would be able to do it on them. It was starting to seem hopeless. Any minute now the police would be called by one of the panicking people and then they would be forced to stay back. God knows how many officers would die, and even if they did catch them they'd probably just end up experimenting on them. Somehow these creatures did seem like their friends and Sam was determined to let them all find some peace and rest wherever they were going.
Just as Sam was about to step forward and take charge something, again much like a bomb threw the three of them backwards, pushing them so they all landed hard on the rubbish underneath them and shattering the windows on top. Sam and Edilio covered their faces but Kevin had hit the wall and lay in a confused state as pieces of glass fell over his face, scratching him but thankfully most of it had been blown outside rather than in and he didn't cut himself too badly and nothing landed in his blinking eyes.
Sam sat up slowly, groaning in pain and blinking ahead. The ceiling had been pulled apart like a pair of giant hands had forced their way through and ripped the roof to either side like a packet of crisps. He gawped up at the thing that was now hovering just inside the area that had been broken apart.
The best way to describe it was to say a fairy. It looked like a toddler, dark brown hair that barely fell past her chin with pale skin, small and skinny with bright pink cheeks and a wide nose. She had thin lips and was dressed in what looked like a plain pink baby pyjamas that covered the feet and wrists but left her human hands free. She had a round face, small ears and bright pink clips either side in her hair. And then there were the real things that drew the eye. The wings. Three pairs of fairy wings, they were plain coloured, long and rounded at the ends. The top were aqua blue, the middle were light purple and the bottom were lime green. She hovered in the air with plain white milky eyes like a blind person but she looked from Orc to Brianna like she could see.
Sam slowly stood up, glass falling and spraying in loud tinkling noises at his feet. He took a step forward and hesitated, this thing was dangerous. Beside of him, Edilio was slowly sitting up and Kevin was climbing onto his hands and feet, cutting his hands.
The fairy looked over at Sam, Kevin and Edilio. She moved, her wings very gently moving against the wind as she lowered herself to the ground and looked around again. By now Brianna and Orc were cowering against the wall, looking nervous. Sam felt nervous. He didn't have animal instinct but even then he could feel the aura beating off of her, overpowering everything in the room and crushing them under her power.
The fairy turned to the hare and lifted her hand, pointing her palm at Brianna. Brianna shrieked and tried to run but she was frozen, she shrieked and screamed as her fur and skin began to burn and in seconds she melted into a puddle of oily water ash. Her screaming somehow echoed even after her death for minutes before she was silent. The fire that burned her while she had been frozen was now catching on anything it could around her as the fairy turned to face Orc.
Orc actually made to turn and run, its four feet galloping away from the fairy and towards the door, heading over to trample Edilio and Kevin who still lay in his way of the door. It didn't make it very far before it was picked up off the floor by an invisible object and thrown at the wall opposite. It was thrown against the wall, the remainder of the ceiling and the floor. Orc let out an angry growl and tried to drag its limp body away but the fairy settled down on the ground in front of him and pointed both palms at the creature. He, too, burst into flames and let out a bellow of fear and agony. Finally Orc turned into a puddle of ash just like Brianna.
Sam gasped, staring down at the two puddles before his eyes found the fairy once more. She looked familiar, and he had a horrible feeling he knew who exactly she was. But the question was... Was she the good Gaia, or the bad Gaia? Did it make a different?!
"RUN!" Sam snapped.
He grabbed Edilio and dragged him to his feet, pushing him to the door. He ducked over and grabbed Kevin, pushing him after Edilio. As soon as the two of them were running out the door and down the street Sam followed, risking only a small glance back. Fairy Gaia turned and began to make her way towards of them. She was heading for the kill.
G*O*N*E
The pain was almost numb now. Lana couldn't feel most of her injuries and she was horrified when she realised it was just what it had been last time. Her body was rotting. She was slowly dying just like when she had been in the crash and spent days in the hot desert sun. She wasn't in the hot sun this time, but she was still stuck inside. Somehow she had dragged herself towards the phone but only after passing out repeatedly. And when she did reach the table where the phone sat she had no strength to reach up and grab it. She couldn't do anything more than lie there and cry and scream. She screamed but no one came. She cried but no one heard her. The worst part wasn't that no one heard her. It was when she heard other people screaming and crying too.
Time was hard to keep track of, even with a clock she passed in and out and was so confused that she didn't understand anything. She hoped someone would come for her soon but would they? She wished Ben would show up but he didn't know where she lived, no one did. Lana felt safer not having anyone know much about her and now it was coming back to bite her in the ass. The only hope was that someone would grow suspicious with Patrick at the Vet and would somehow realise something was wrong if she didn't answer the phone and then they might call the police. Though Lana didn't know how they would face against that monster!
Gold appeared in front of her eyes. Lana looked up, sure she was dreaming, and gasped, ignoring the pain as she stared up at Taylor, who hovered over her. She had no expression on her face but she was watching Lana with wide eyes...
G*O*N*E
"I'll get it away!" Emily declared loudly.
"You'll what?!" Dekka snapped.
"It's heading for the town!" Emily snapped back, pointing at the creature. "We have to get it away from there! The oceans not far off! I can teleport myself, and maybe even that creature, straight into the water."
"That's crazy! We don't know if that will even work." Dekka snarled.
"It's all we have!" Emily shoved Dekka backwards. "You! Go! Run! Find... I don't know, go find Caine! He's the only one else with powers! We have to do something before it destroys the town!"
Dekka growled. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to leave, she didn't want to let Emily fight this thing on her own but she saw sense in Emily's words. After a hesitation she slapped Emily gently on the back in encouragement, turned, and ran for the town in the opposite direction.
"Don't die!" She called back as she ran.
Emily nodded to her back and turned to face this thing. Emily had never met Drake or Brittney but she had heard plenty about them, including how they became one unkillable machine and how they had tried to help kill everyone in the FAYZ. And now they were back as some monster Hydra.
Emily vanished and appeared just a few feet away from it.
While she began to lead the Hydra away, Dekka ran and ran. She had never run so fast in her life even during the FAYZ. Her legs were already hurting and her stomach was clenching but she refused to slow down until she was hitting the streets and all this healthy energy kept her going. Her best hope was to get to the apartment and get Diana's phone number. Then send Caine to help Emily.
That was the plan. Get to apartment. Phone Diana. Send for Caine. Rush back and help in anyway that she could. Not that she could help much anyway.
Dekka was still running when she tripped and landed hard on her hands and knees, she scratched herself badly and drew a little blood. She hesitated, just long enough to climb back onto her feet and take a few deep breaths when something caught her eye. It was a car that was parked beside of the road on a near empty street. The car looked normal, but there were slight bloodstains along the bottom of the window.
For a moment she forgot about Emily and the hydra and stepped up to the car, probably nothing but maybe something... A quick look in and she saw a leopard, settled on the back seats, chewing on the remains of a teenager's body. The adults seemed to have fallen down under the front seats, barely enough meat left on their bodies to be called human anymore and Dekka had to step back to vomit on the ground. The bodies had been there for a while, they were starting to rot and Dekka felt light headed.
She turned and looked back in the car window. The leopard had stopped chewing on the teenager, Dekka didn't look close enough to see if it was a boy or a girl, it now looked up at Dekka with large eyes, growling. It didn't use any powers but Dekka heard her own voice in the animal's growl. This was her animal side. She was the leopard.
Before she could think anything else, she remembered telling Emily just what he greatest fear was and resisted the urge to vomit again. Did that mean she would need to EAT the leopard?!
Dekka stared down at the leopard as it – she – stared back up at her. Neither of them did anything for a moment when Dekka took a breath and ripped the door open. As soon as it was open her body began to leave the ground. Dekka let out a short shriek and held on the door tightly, gripping it with her feet hanging above her as the gravity lifted her up. Dekka gripped the door tightly and tried to drag herself down to the ground but that was near impossible with gravity pulling her away.
"STOP!" Dekka snapped. "Let me down you stupid animal! Let me down!"
The leopard snarled up at her. Dekka used all her strength to pull her down until she was holding on to the bottom of the car. Her fingers clung on desperately and she knew if she let go then the leopard would take her a thousand feet in the air and drop her just like that. Or maybe it would keep lifting her higher and higher until she was caught in space and suffocated.
"NO!" Dekka shouted. "No! No, no, no!"
She was not going to die. She was not going to be killed by her own power.
Dekka held on tightly with one hand, so tightly the bottom of the car began to cut into her fingers, and reached with her free hand for anything she could. For a moment she found nothing but then her hand got a hold of a bone from inside the car under the leopards paw. Dekka pulled it free, ignoring the dried blood and rotting skin she also felt and brought it around, hitting the leopard hard under the chin.
Instantly gravity stopped and Dekka dropped down hard onto the ground. She bit her tongue and drew blood. Sitting up she gripped tightly on the bone and brought it around again, hitting the leopard again on the head and then hitting it again on the back and again on the paw and again and again and again. She kept on hitting the leopard for a few minutes, making sure it was too dizzy to cancel gravity again.
Then she grabbed the animal and pulled it from the car, throwing it down on the ground and hitting it twice more with a lot of effort. Dekka wanted to hesitate. She wanted to resist and cringe but there was no time. She had to do this now. As soon as she stopped hitting the animal, Dekka leaned forward and bit down hard into the leopards arms.
Fur filled her mouth but she kept biting until she had skin and blood in her mouth. It was slightly easier when she forced herself to remember starvation, a time when she did jump on birds and cats just as much as the next person and eat them live and raw. It was easier than she thought and she began to take a second bite.
Halfway through the third the leopard melted in her hands and in her mouth. It took a while and she didn't want to stop chewing until it was completely dead. Dekka vomited a second time on the ground, this time vomiting a black sticky ashy liquid. Dekka vomited twice more, then gagged three times and tried to wipe the liquid from her hands and her lap as best as she could. Now her hands were stained once more and so were her lips and probably the inside of her mouth. Dekka hurried over towards the nearest house to ask them to allow her to clean up but she pulled up short. No time, she had to get back to Emily. She had been delayed long enough getting her power back; she had to go save Emily!
There were two people left on the street down at the far end that had seen her. But they must have seen it from far away and only guess half of what she was doing and they didn't come to question her at all.
The run back was seconds compared to the run away. Soon Dekka was darting towards down the stretched land. She didn't waste time checking her powers, they were there. She could feel it.
The hydra had its back to her. It's large claw like hands were snapping at something in front of it while slow legs moved it away from Dekka. Its many heads were constantly twisting and turning in the same way that Drake's tentacle arm would move even when wrapped around his body. The faces were mismatched, blending together and normal. It was monstrous even from behind.
Dekka ran around it rather than straight passed it. So she was still quite a bit far off when Emily appeared in the edge of the water. She vanished and appeared a good few waves in the water, the hydra following her in. It was knee deep when Emily vanished and appeared further back.
And it was then when Emily looked and saw Dekka. It was only for a second, she immediately turned her attention back to the hydra in front of her but it was long enough to stall her. Long enough for one of the hydra's claws to slash out and stick its claw somewhere between her stomach and her chest. She vanished and appeared beside of Dekka just as it hit, collapsing to the floor in a heap.
"Emily!" Dekka gasped.
She rolled on the ground and stared up at Dekka in shock. Slowly a red stain began to grow on her stomach where the claw had just touched it. It seemed to have stabbed deeper than Dekka realised and the blood stain was growing and began to flood the area around her.
"EMILY!" Dekka shrieked as her skin grew pale and her eyes began to roll into her skull.
38) Should Emily live?
Thanks to Breeze who let me know I kept misspelling Hydra. Believe it or not I did know how to spell it... Yet my fingers wouldn't listen to me. Anyway! If I do make small mistakes like that please do let me know and thanks to everyone reading and reviewing!
